BENNETT INVENTORY : That Moment (Scariest Non-Horror Movie Moments of the 90s Edition!)

Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka, Raiders, Roger Rabbit -- we know all the regular ol' movies with unexpected detours into pure terror - they were a rite of passage that callused us for harder viewing. Doesn't seem to be much of a thing anymore as pace changes were abandoned both within and without Cinema, but the 90s still had several to offer. There were certainly plenty of Thrillers that had me on the edge of my seat and Actioners that blew up a lotta heads, but these are 5 movies that barely insinuated a truly scarring experience and yet provided them with little or no consent. And for that, I applaud and cherish them. 

- Paul

Ghost

Highway to Hell

Apart from the central thread of Patrick Swayze: Ghost Detective this movie's other main purpose is to suggest a possible reality of the afterlife. Once I was in that mindset I was ready to believe the fact that bad people are dragged off into some unseen netherworld by groaning shadow people. That was a more effective incentive to not do crimes than Jesus, Santa, and Robocop combined. 

Eyes Wide Shut

Where the rainbow ends

Can't even mention this movie without spiraling off into a thousand word essay. There's a general understanding that some or all of this movie takes place in a dream - intentional or not, I've always found that explanation to be a flimsy attempt at a self-satisfying logic; one could take that approach toward all his movies because they all feel this way. On more literal terms, when the two masked patrons simultaneously look at Bill, their pace matching the speed of the zoom in, it's the most accurate onscreen depiction of what my own nightmares feel like - even more so than anything in The Shining. 

Trainspotting

Baby Dawn

Of the countless number of movies (and books and TV shows) that made grotesque attempts to get the glamour out of drug use, this moment sums it up most effectively. Nevermind the quirky fever dream doll on the ceiling - if anything that made lite of this otherwise horrific reveal that even straightforward scary movies don't mess with too much. 

Casino

The powers that be

If anyone were to ask me what the most violent movie I'd ever seen was, it's not some Spaghetti Zombie flick or New French Extreme buffoonery, it's still Casino. That's due in part to context, but also because of the actual onscreen graphic content, and I don't imagine I'll ever see anything as brutal and shocking as Nicky and Dominick's death in any other movie not labeled as "Horror." 

Dumb and Dumber

Lloyd's fantasy 

Everyone knows that Kung Fu Movie violence has a blank check for madness that's beyond reproach. Though I'm not sure I knew that when I was 10 or 11 or however old I was when this came out; it's played for laughs, and I laughed, but cripes I wasn't in the frame of mind for internal organs, no matter how bloodless.